Keynote speaker Kim Carter, Time for Change Foundation founder/ambassador and Center for Housing Advancement and motivational Projects “CHAMPS” president was formerly incarcerated and homeless. The San Bernardino County Homeless Partnership in collaboration with the Office of Homeless Services will host its 11th Annual Homeless Summit in Ontario, Calif. on Wednesday, Nov.14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales, right, receives a standing ovation for her work as Chair of San Bernardino County Interagency Council on Homeless at the 11th Annual Homeless Summit in Ontario, Calif. on Wednesday, Nov.14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Kim Carter advocates giving the best to those who have the least. The Time for Change Foundation founder/ambassador and CHAMPS president says she’ll give someone the best clothes in her closet even though it’s “painful.” She was the keynote speaker at the 11th Annual Homeless Summit in Ontario, Calif. on Wednesday, Nov.14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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Kim Carter, The Time for Change Foundation founder/ambassador and CHAMPS president, is introduced and embraced by Tom Hernandez, San Bernardino Chief of Homeless Services, at the 11th Annual Homeless Summit in Ontario, Calif. on Wednesday, Nov.14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Kim Carter, Time for Change Foundation founder/ambassador and CHAMPS president, says it is not ok to discard homeless woman and children at the 11th Annual Homeless Summit in Ontario, Calif. on Wednesday, Nov.14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Kim Carter, an ex-addict, is a key figure in helping homeless women and children get their lives on track. The Time for Change Foundation founder and “CHAMPS president is a CNN Hero. She speaks at the 11th Annual Homeless Summit in Ontario, Calif. on Wednesday, Nov.14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Kim Carter, Time for Change Foundation founder/ambassador and CHAMPS president, shows a video of homeless people who have benefitted from her organizations at the 11th Annual Homeless Summit in Ontario, Calif. on Wednesday, Nov.14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

“Does this look like the face of homeless?,” Kim Carter, The Time for Change Foundation founder/ambassador, not pictured, asks. She prompts Aimee Durante, pictured who was once homeless, to stand at the 11th Annual Homeless Summit in Ontario, Calif. on Wednesday, Nov.14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales, right, is embraced by Gary Madden of the Inland Empire United Way after receiving a standing ovation and award for her work as Chair of San Bernardino County Interagency Council on Homeless during the 11th Annual Homeless Summit in Ontario, Calif. on Wednesday, Nov.14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Nellie Medano has benefitted from The Time for Change Foundation and CHAMPS organization. She attends the 11th Annual Homeless Summit in Ontario, Calif. on Wednesday, Nov.14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

When Kim Carter sees a homeless woman on the street, she sees herself.

Because that used to be her.

The founder and ambassador of Time for Change Foundation in San Bernardino, talked about her history and her work as a homeless advocate during the 11th annual Homeless Summit, themed “Aspire and Inspire,” Wednesday, Nov. 14 in Ontario.

“I was savable,” said Carter, who is now president of the Center for Housing Advancement and Motivational Projects, or CHAMP.

“I still had value. I still had worth in me. It was not over for me,” Carter added. “And I became a change agent.”

Launched in 2002, Time For Change Foundation has assisted more than 1,000 women and children in San Bernardino County achieve self-sufficiency. Carter said the foundation also has reunited 282 children in foster care with their mothers.

In her energetic keynote address, Carter encouraged other homeless advocates to bridge the gap between governmental systems meant to help those in need, and the people they’re hoping to help.

“The systems do nothing without us taking it, twisting it and bringing it down to meet the people,” Carter said.

“The system is going to be in the building, but the homeless folks are outside.”

The group also recognized 5th District County Supervisor Josie Gonzales for her efforts to end homelessness in the county. Gonzales, who founded the Interagency Council on Homelessness, stressed the importance of collaboration.

“You all have been aspiring for a very long time, and you’ve been an inspiration in bringing so many others along with you,” Gonzales told the audience.

“You truly are the magnets that attract the solution.”

The inspiration do to this work can be found in the results, Gonzales said, noting that the county has helped house more than 1,000 veterans, nearly 1,800 families, 4,800 children and 620 chronically homeless individuals.

Gonzales said part of the reason for her focus on homelessness is the fact that the problem is an economic drain on local governments.

Some studies suggest that each homeless person on the street costs taxpayers between $35,000 and $125,000 per year, in the form of emergency health care, police calls and other costs. By comparison, Gonzales said it costs $15,000 to $25,000 to house and provide services to a homeless individual.

“If cities band together and address issues they have in common, there is an efficiency that can be had, a cost savings that can be had, and higher positive outcomes that can be had,” Gonzales said.

The partnership, comprised of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Homeless Provider Network and the county’s Office of Homeless Services, has secured more than $62 million in federal funding for homeless services. It has provided educational resource outreach events to about 15,000 homeless and at-risk households; partnered with more than 200 homeless service providers; and helped increase the number of rapid rehousing and permanent housing units throughout the county.